Compromise bill to prohibit discrimination based on hair texture or style, including discrimination against natural and protective hairstyles, passes the Legislature

BOSTON – On Monday, July 18th, the Massachusetts State Senate passed the CROWN Act, a bill sponsored by Senator Sal DiDomenico and Senator Adam Gomez of Springfield which prohibits discrimination based on a person’s hair texture or style in Massachusetts. Having been enacted in both the Senate and the House, the bill now goes to Governor Baker for his signature.

The CROWN Act prohibits denial of employment and educational opportunities in places of work, schools, and school-related organizations on account of hair texture or protective hairstyles, such as braids, locks, and twists, used by people by color. Hair-based discrimination has excluded people of color from classrooms and workplaces, with serious academic and economic consequences.

“As a long-time supporter and one of the Senate lead sponsors of this legislation, I am thrilled to see the CROWN Act going to the Governor to be signed into law,” said Senator DiDomenico (D-Everett), Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “The CROWN Act will protect people of color from experiencing hair discrimination and ensure we can celebrate all hairstyles. We are sending a message that discrimination in any form will not be tolerated and we will now have a law in place to back this up. We could not have accomplished this without the tenacious work from advocates from the CROWN Coalition and bravery from students who have shared their personal experiences with hair discrimination. I would also like to thank Senate President Spilka and Chair Rodrigues for making this a priority this session and my legislative partners, Senator Gomez, Representative Ultrino, and Representative Tyler, for their dedication and tireless work getting this bill across the finish line.”

“Having the right to be and present as our authentic selves, without fear of discrimination, matters to each one of us,” stated Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “For too many Black and Brown residents of Massachusetts this right has not always been honored. By enacting the CROWN Act, the Senate is once again affirming that hair discrimination has no place in professional or school settings in the Commonwealth. I am grateful to Mya and Deanna Cook, who stood up and fought hard to right this wrong for Black women and girls across the state. Thank you to Senators Gomez, DiDomenico, Rodrigues, Lewis and Edwards, as well as their staff members, for their work on this issue, and to the advocates for their collaboration.” 

This legislation was inspired in part by two Black teenagers from Malden, Mya and Deanna Cook, who were punished by their school and barred from extracurricular activities for wearing their hair in braids. After gaining national attention and organizing public protests, the school eventually reversed their policy. The CROWN Act will protect Massachusetts children from experiencing this kind of discrimination.

The CROWN (Creating a Respectful and Open World for Natural Hair) Coalition has played a crucial role in supporting the passage of this legislation in Massachusetts and in states across the country. Massachusetts will soon join 17 other states that have passed some version of the CROWN Act, which has also been proposed at the federal level.

Having passed both branches of the legislature, the bill now goes to the Governor for his review.

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Senate passes bills to prevent inhumane treatment of puppies and kittens, encourage adoption of research animals, and enforce hunting regulations for endangered and threatened species

BOSTON – On July 11th, Senator DiDomenico joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts State Senate to pass three bills which promote animal welfare. S.2994 An Act protecting the health and safety of puppies and kittens in cities and towns ensures the safety of puppies and kittens during breeding, sale, and boarding. S.2992 An Act Protecting Research Animals, previously passed by the Senate in 2018 and commonly known as the ‘Beagle Bill’, encourages research facilities that use dogs and cats to offer these animals up for adoption after finishing research, rather than automatically euthanizing them. Finally, S.2993 An Act further regulating the enforcement of illegal hunting practices takes measures to discourage the illegal hunting and sale of game animals, including endangered species.

“I am proud to have supported and voted to pass these bills which will improve and protect the lives and well-being of countless animals across Massachusetts” said Senator DiDomenico, Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate. “Our state’s values are demonstrated by how we treat all members of our society, including our voiceless dogs, cats, and endangered species. I look forward to seeing these animal welfare bills passed into law quickly so we can ensure our animals are safe and treated with respect.”

“As a lifelong animal lover and owner, I am acutely aware of the importance of protecting the Commonwealth’s animals, whether in our homes, in kennels and shared facilities, or in nature,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “I am also grateful for the advocates and Senators who worked to get these bills to the Senate floor. Thank you to Senators Chandler and Rodrigues for working to protect the puppies and kittens of the Commonwealth, to Senators Lovely and Tarr for continuing to lead on pushing for the Beagle Bill, and Senator Moore for your work to strengthen poaching regulations.”

Protecting Puppies and Kittens

An Act protecting the health and safety of puppies and kittens in cities and towns addresses inhumane practices relating to the transfer of pets. As separating puppies and kittens from their mother and litter prior to completion of their eight-week developmental socialization stage prevents them from learning important behaviors such as bite inhibition and the development of proper social relations with other members of their species, this bill prohibits the sale of puppies and kittens under eight weeks of age. To promote continued wellbeing of puppies and kittens in group settings, this legislation tasks the Department of Agricultural Resources (MDAR) with creating Massachusetts’ first state-wide oversight regulations and licensure requirements of breeders, doggie daycare, and boarding facilities. The bill also ends the sale of animals on roadsides, parking lots, flea markets, or in other public spaces.

Beagle Bill

According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, nationally more than 60,000 dogs, almost all beagles, and nearly 20,000 cats are used each year to advance scientific research and to test cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, and other household products. Currently, many research labs choose to automatically euthanize these cats and dogs once their experiments are over. An Act Protecting Research Animals, commonly known as the ‘Beagle Bill’, facilitates a relationship between animal research laboratories and registered non-profit animal rescue organizations and requires that when these animals are no longer needed, the research facilities make every effort to place animals up for public adoption.

Illegal Hunting

Massachusetts is currently experiencing historically unprecedented losses of species diversity, with much of the state’s wildlife increasingly vulnerable to human activities like climate change and illegal hunting.  An Act further regulating the enforcement of illegal hunting practices aligns Massachusetts poaching regulations with other states, to better protect fish, birds, mammals, and endangered or threatened species.  This bill also brings Massachusetts into the Interstate Wildlife Violator Compact, which helps states to work together to prevent illegal hunting across state lines.

Having passed the Senate, An Act protecting the health and safety of puppies and kittens in cities and towns now goes on to the House of Representatives for further consideration. As An Act further regulating the enforcement of illegal hunting practices and An Act Protecting Research Animals have passed both branches of the legislature, a conference committee will be appointed to resolve differences between the bill’s two versions, if any.

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Senate bill would support children and families, early education providers, and the early education workforce

BOSTON – On July 7th, Senator Sal DiDomenico joined his colleagues in the Massachusetts State Senate to unanimously pass S.2973 An Act to expand access to high-quality, affordable early education and care. This bipartisan legislation will transform early education and childcare in the Commonwealth by making it more accessible and affordable for families, providing high-quality care for young children, strengthening early education providers, improving compensation and professional development for the early education workforce, and addressing the workforce needs of Massachusetts employers. The bill draws from the recommendations made by the Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission, which was created by the legislature in 2020 and issued its final report in March 2022.

“This issue has been a top priority of mine for many years, and I am thrilled to pass this transformative piece of legislation alongside my Senate colleagues,” said Senator DiDomenico, Assistant Majority Leader of the Massachusetts Senate and a member of the Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission. “As a father of two children, I know that affordable and quality early education and care is indispensable for families and their economic security. This bill will increase childcare access and help thousands of families obtain care at lower costs. Just as importantly, these investments will provide support to childcare providers and ensure people working in this field can earn a living wage, acquire higher education, and support their own families. I want to thank Senate President Karen Spilka for making this a priority and Chair Jason Lewis and Chair Michael Rodrigues for all their work to bring this important issue to the Senate floor.”

“Just as the Senate led on transforming the Commonwealth’s K-12 education system through the Student Opportunity Act, today’s bill would similarly transform the early education system,” said Senate President Karen E. Spilka (D-Ashland). “Unfortunately, high-quality early education remains out of reach for most Massachusetts families, and our providers struggle to keep their doors open. This bill will address those issues and make our Commonwealth stronger by making early education more affordable, investing in our early educators, and ensuring the sustainability of our providers. I want to thank Senator Lewis and the members of the Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission for their extensive work on this bill, as well as for the work of Chair Rodrigues and the many, many advocates and stakeholders that got us to today.”

Senator DiDomenico has been a champion for early education and care expansion since he first took office 12 years ago. In 2013, DiDomenico played a pivotal role in creating an Early Education and Out of School Time (EEOST) capital fund that provided $45M in loans and grants to early learning centers and out-of-school-time programs serving low-income families. Recently, during the onset of the pandemic, Senator DiDomenico secured $10 Million for COVID-19 Preparedness and Stabilization Grants to provide critical support to Massachusetts afterschool and out-of-school time programs.

Throughout the past two years, DiDomenico served on the Special Legislative Early Education and Care Economic Review Commission and worked with colleagues to create a blueprint for the investments Massachusetts needs to make in the care economy. The Senator worked tirelessly to push this massive early education and childcare bill across the finish line and will continue to fight for even more investments in the years to come.

High-quality early education helps young children to develop stronger communication, social, and cognitive skills. Investments in early education have been shown to yield considerable long-term benefits, such as higher academic achievement and greater lifetime earnings. Many families in Massachusetts, however, lack access to high-quality, affordable early education. This impacts the ability of parents, especially working mothers, to enter or remain in the workforce. The financial strain of childcare on families is a contributing factor to workforce shortages and threatens to hamper the state’s economic recovery.

The Senate bill would improve access to high-quality and affordable care for Massachusetts families in several ways. The bill would:

• Increase subsidy eligibility over time from the current level of 50% of state median income ($65,626 annual household income for a family of four) to 125% of state median income ($164,065 annual household income for a family of four)

• Make it easier for subsidized providers to offer scholarships or discounted tuition for their private pay families

• Require the Department of Early Education and Care (EEC) to evaluate and eliminate barriers to subsidy access for families on an annual basis

• Require parent fees for subsidized families to be affordable and updated at least every five years

• Require EEC to assess the extent of the current supply of licensed childcare availability across the state and the unmet needs of families

Even though childcare is expensive for families in Massachusetts, early education and childcare providers are themselves in crisis. Given the low wages and poor benefits that providers can afford to pay their staff, providers face chronic challenges with attracting and retaining early educators, almost all of whom are women and many of whom are women of color. Federal pandemic relief funding has been a lifeline for the early education and care sector, but these funds are one-time.

This Senate legislation will help stabilize providers, improve program quality, and expand capacity in several ways. The bill:

• Makes permanent the operational grants to providers that were first distributed during the pandemic and requires that a provider must be willing to enroll subsidized children in order to qualify for a grant

• Requires EEC to use an actual cost-of-quality-care methodology for setting subsidy reimbursement rates and calculating operational grants

• Requires EEC to reimburse subsidized providers based on quarterly enrollment rather than daily attendance of children

• Takes steps to strengthen the recruitment and pipeline of early educators

Early educators with bachelor’s degrees earn far less than their counterparts who teach in public elementary schools, and one in six early educators lives in poverty.

To improve compensation, benefits, and professional development opportunities for the early educator workforce, this legislation:

• Requires EEC to develop a career ladder that links educational attainment and work experience to compensation and benefits and recommends that compensation levels be commensurate with public school teachers who are similarly credentialed

• Establishes early educator scholarship and loan forgiveness programs to provide greater access to higher education and professional development opportunities

• Enables subsidized providers to offer free or discounted seats for the children of their own staff

Other provisions would further improve and strengthen early education and childcare in Massachusetts. The bill:

• Creates a commission to study and recommend to the legislature ways that employers could provide more support to their workers to help meet their early education and childcare needs

• Requires EEC to report to the legislature on ways to expand successful local partnerships, such as the Commonwealth Preschool Partnership Initiative (CPPI)

• Requires EEC and the Children’s Investment Fund to report to the legislature on ways to improve and expand the impact of the Early Education and Out of School Time (EEOST) Capital Fund for making improvements to early education facilities

• Requires EEC to create a plan to pilot and scale shared service models that can improve the efficient delivery of high-quality care

• Creates a data advisory commission to work with EEC on expanded data collection and reporting, and the improved use of data to inform the cost and quality of care

Having passed the Senate, An Act to expand access to high-quality, affordable early education and care now moves to the House of Representatives for further consideration.

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